10. They’re Different than
Traditional Companies
High octane, intense, and a little chaotic
• Building a company from the ground up involves a
ton of hard work and navigating risk & uncertainty
Lean & mean
• You need to wear multiple hats, get “into the
weeds”
Value people who get things done
• You must love to execute and get stuff done
Need people who take initiative
• Expect mentoring, but not extensive supervision
If you’d prefer a more structured, supervised,
predictable environment, then a startup is probably not
for you
11. Top Opportunities
Technical/Product
Software
Development
Product Design &
User Experience
QA & Testing
Data Science
DevOps
Product Management
Electrical Engineer
Mechanical Engineer
Business
Business Development
Rep (BDR)
Sales Development
Rep (SDR)
Sales/Field Engineer
Growth Hacking
Account Management
Marketing
Community
Other
15. Personal/Side Projects
are Critical
Show
You can build things
Are always learning
Are passionate about your field
Personal projects trump class projects
Devoting free time illustrates passion &
curiosity to learn
“Doing” more important than how you get
there
16. “I would hire someone with a
2.0 GPA from a no-name
college and tons of side
projects using cool tech
versus a 4.0 MIT CS grad who
focuses only on school.”
17. Personality Traits Matter
Intellectual curiosity
• Evident desire to learn more about things
Passion
• Deeply care about your areas of interest (love it)
Self-starter
• Ambition & drive in how you go about things
Do things differently
• You didn’t just follow the herd
Commitment to personal growth and learning
• Explore topics outside your field of interest
21. “What I Know Now Didn’t
Come from Class”
Don’t limit yourself to just classes
• Take advantage of what’s available to you
Don’t waste time
• Submit assignments early and work on your own
projects
Learn on your own
• Khan Academy, Coursera, Code.org, OpenCourseWare
Plenty of opportunities only a click away
22. More Ideas
Tech / CS Specific
Contribute to an open-
source project
Learn more programming
languages
Try different operating
systems
Create apps
Read tech books
Debug that web service
that fails every single
time someone tries to
upload a video larger
than 200MB
Non-Tech / General
Get involved with a
campus startup
Participate in a
business plan or pitch
competition
Do a Startup Weekend,
hackathon or makeathon
Leverage class projects
to work with companies
Experiment with social
media for business,
non-profit, other
applications
27. Then…
Convince employer that you wanted to work
there your whole life
• Resume should reinforce it
• Follow-up notes should hammer the point home
Keep your talking points to the job you
applied for
Be perceived as willing to throw yourself
100% into the opportunity at hand
29. Resume
Focus on your projects and experience
• What you worked on
• Technology you used
• Any notable outcomes
Link to your body of work
• GitHub, online portfolio, personal website
List upper level CS courses
• Depending upon the position
Anything extra-curricular that shows
something remarkable about you
Spelling & grammar
30. Cover Letter
Needs to be highly personalized
• Invest the time to understand their
business
Communicate why you’re excited about what
the company/opportunity
• Startups love to see shared passion
Articulate (and support) why you would be
a terrific fit
Your objective is to passionately resonate
with the team
31. Applying
1. Submit your resume via your university
career system
2. Apply on the company’s website
• Include your cover letter
3. Send a personal email to the hiring
manager
4. BONUS: Get a warm intro into the team
32. Follow-Up
Persistence can pay off
Follow-up 2-3 weeks after application
• Personal email to hiring manager
• Reiterate your interest & why
• Call to action: opportunity to discuss
further
Follow-up again 2-3 weeks after that
33. Don’t Be This Person
Michael,
I am very interested in the ThinkBig opportunity I came
across on the XXX career website. My experiences with YYY
and ZZZ have equipped me to successfully handle making fact
based decisions, business development, and strategic
thinking. In particular, as a detail oriented, competitive,
self starter with a strategic approach to achieving
objectives, my ability to build a business case to drive
forward inflection point decisions would ensure I am
challenged to make an impact.
I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you. Please
find my resume attached for your review. I look forward to
hearing from you.
Kind regards,
XXXXX
34. Be This Person
Researched startups hiring interns
- Focused on those that fit his
interests & (limited) background
- Identified CEO’s contact info
Sent personalized note to CEO
- Introduced himself and background
- Detailed passion for startups and
why interested in the company
- Outlined where/how he could make
an impact
11 – Emails sent
7 – Conversations/interviews
1 – Great summer experience
“Tino” – Freshman
35. Takeaways
Project-based experiences rule the day
• Take advantage of all the options on campus
• Build your body of work
• Illustrate & demonstrate what you can do
Passion and fit needs to come through your
resume and company interactions
• Challenge yourself outside the classroom (and
major)
• Fall in love with what you do
Personalize your communications and stay
after it
37. Finding Opportunities
VentureLoop.com
• New openings at VC-
backed startups
AngelList
• Openings at startups
Join-Startups
• Easy way to find
opportunities by
region
TechGen
38. Intern at a tech startup?
Get real, hands-on experience.
Apply to TechGen – the
common app for
internships at Boston’s
hottest tech startups
38
Sales * Marketing * Design
Engineering * Product
Management
Go to TheTechGeneration.com to apply
Follow #TechGen on twitter @TheTechGen
• Browse our startups
• Get noticed by companies
• Find your internship
Are you looking for an internship and want to have real, hands-on experience?
Tech Generation puts your resume in front of Boston’s hottest tech startups and to help you uncover amazing opportunities at those companies. As an intern through TechGen, you get to participate in cool events and workshops where you meet other interns and companies, learn new skills or build upon existing ones, explore new areas of Boston and build your network in this community of innovators.
How it works:
-apply to TechGen
-explore our participating companies (like HourlyNerd, Nanigans, PillPack and more!)
Companies will contact you directly if there is a match and will handle the hiring process.
Once hired as an intern through TechGen, you will have access to our exclusive social and educational events – from networking to workshops, from TechTreks to competitions this program is here to make your summer internship experience as valuable and fun as possible.